Often Reproved

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. *Proverbs 29:1* Those are God's words, not man's. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, Eternity is near, prepare to meet thy God. Before the sun rises again, you could be in Eternity. The people in Noah's day were reproved by his preaching for 120 years, and the judgment of God came suddenly via the flood and destroyed them all. *Luke 17:27* They laughed at Noah and the ark he was building. Pharaoh was reproved for seven years. Judas was reproved for three and a half years.

How long have you been reproved now? 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, maybe 40 or more? Time is running out for you. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. Your iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Watch lost men - they congregate around their gods - sports, politics, religion, music, and liquor.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. And when the Holy Spirit is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

God has a controversy with you, because you have rejected and neglected His Son. This world doesn't treat Jesus Christ right. This world spat in the face of the Son of God, they jerked out His beard, put a crown of thorns on His head, and nailed Him to a Cross. This world treated Jesus Christ worse than you would treat a dog. God is right, and this world is wrong. Your religiousness will never appease God's wrath. When God is against you, you are in a real mess. Sin has deluded your mind, and deceived your soul. High-browed folks usually wind up in Hell where they belong. God will only put up with your nonsense for so long; His long-suffering will run out one day for you. Human nature hates Jesus Christ with a passion for some odd reason. Don't get the wrong idea about God; He's going to settle with you sooner or later.

The Gospel of Christ is offensive to sinful man. A Cross with a mangled, bleeding, nailed, naked man hanging on it suffering the penalty due to sinners is offensive to the carnal mind. Every lost man has the Blood of Jesus Christ on his hands. Religion makes a man feel comfortable, respectable, and decent in his sins. The Gospel comes after your sins, and make you uneasy in your sins. What have you personally done with Jesus Christ? That is the main issue. You must Repent or Perish; Receive Christ, or you'll go to Hell where you belong. Folks don't want to be bothered about their sins. If you reject Jesus Christ, you are a rebel against God Almighty. There's some insults that love won't stand, and you have continually insulted a holy loving God long enough, and turned your back on His Son way too many times. No one can continue to sin against and attack God with impunity. *Romans 2:5-6*

God will only put up with so much from you. You slander God when you say He won't punish sin. God is running things, not you. The Holy Ghost is trying to get you to trust Jesus Christ, so you won't die in your sins. You better watch your step; there is a sin unto death; you are dealing with your Maker. You better quit rejecting Jesus Christ, and come clean with God. The Holy Ghost exalts Jesus Christ, not Himself. You better stop playing around with God Almighty. *I John 5:12*

God doesn't let people go to Hell, they want to go to Hell, because they love sin. Men love to strut, and think they are somebody. You are playing with Sin, and all the cards of the universe are stacked against you. When you wind up in Hell one day, take it like a man, because you didn't have to go. You chose to enjoy sin, and then go to Hell. Men don't like to be told how to live and think. If you go to Hell, you'll have to kick over all of God's barriers to go there. *II Peter 3:9*

You have been "often reproved." You've had fair warning quite often. The people of Nineveh in Jonah's day only had one warning, and they repented. You've been reproved by your parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, strangers, preachers, neighbors, relatives. The Gospel is heard on TV, the internet, and the radio today. The providence of God has reproved you at times through sickness, deaths of others, conscience, or dreams. Every Bible you see or sermon you hear is a reproof to you. Every Christian testimony is a reproof for you to trust Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost patiently convicts, knocks, woos, nudges, tenderly calls, and warns sinners every day.

You have hardened your neck against Jesus Christ. You won't take time to listen, you are rebellious, because you love your sins and this world's pleasures. You are defiant against God at times, cursing His name. You have doubted God's Bible. Your doubts, unbelief and pride will damn you before long. You are willingly ignorant of God and His Son; you stop your ears and shut your eyes. A hard neck leads to a hard head and a hard heart. Sin leads you down a hard road, and then to a hard death and terrible Eternity. You have a long row to hoe without Jesus Christ. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. You refuse to bow your knee to the KING OF KINGS - Jesus Christ. You will not bow your head and put your neck into the yoke of Christ's will. He that refuseth reproof erreth. He that refuseth reproof despiseth his own soul. To day if ye will hear God's voice, harden not your heart. Who hath hardened himself against God, and hath prospered?

One day soon, you could be "suddenly destroyed." God is no respecter of persons. Your life is but a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. You may think you dwell in peace and safety, but then sudden destruction shall come upon you. Sodom was destroyed in a few minutes, Noah's flood started all of a sudden, the rich fool's soul was required of him when he least expected it. 9/11/2001 happened suddenly to America. The wrath of God abides on every unsaved soul right now. *John 3:36* I can tell you the Gospel truth, but only the Holy Ghost can make sin real to you, and reveal to you your need of Jesus Christ's Precious Blood. No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. I can explain the Gospel to you, but the Holy Spirit must draw you to Christ Jesus. In Romans Chapter 1, God gave them up to their filthy ways (Romans 1:24,26), and then He gave them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28).

If you die without Jesus Christ, you will die "without remedy" for your sins. There won't be any answer for your sins in Hell. Light rejected becomes lightning. You won't go to Hell, because of your outward sins; you go to Hell because of the inward light you have rejected. You may die without a moment to pray, without a chance to seek counsel, with no chance to talk to family, children or a minister. Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself from them. *Luke 12:19-21*

The only remedy for your sinful condition is simple childlike faith the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin. There is no remedy for your sins in religion or in your doings. If you wait till tomorrow, you will lose today, and you could lose your soul.

The Incarnate God 3

God came down to this Earth in human flesh and suffered and loved you to death on Calvary. To get rid of God, and leave God out of everything, is the enmity of a lost man's heart. God was made man, and suffered in human form to take away human guilt, and now whosoever will come and rest in what Christ has done shall be saved. The Lamb of God laid down His sinless life for sinners. The imminent peril is to be without Christ Jesus Himself in life and death. If you are neglecting Jesus Christ, there's must be something or someone you don't want to give up. Simply trust the Incarnate God who bled for sinners on Calvary. Jesus is my Friend, He knows much better than I do, I go to Him for help, I draw on HIS resources, for I have none. JESUS - No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.

Reliance upon God Incarnate suffering in my place. *I Timothy 3:16* Trust Jesus simply, rely on Him implicitly. If you laugh at the Cross, you will lose your soul. Stop trying to dodge the main issue - the salvation of your soul through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Give the Cross the proper place and emphasis in your thoughts. If you think you can go to Heaven by any other way but the Cross, you are a perishing soul. The Cross is God's way of pardoning and justifying sinful men. The door to Heaven swings on the hinges of Calvary. The Substitution of the Lamb of God for the sinner. God in human flesh shedding His Precious Blood to atone for the sins of all men. In the Cross of Christ I glory. The way of salvation is so simple - no works, merits, or preparations are required, but simply trusting to Jesus - that is all. Believe in Jesus, not yourself. Rely upon the Lamb of God, depend upon the finished work of Calvary.

If you reject Christ, you are under the spell of the Devil; if you neglect Him, you are bewitched by your own sins. Jesus took your place, and died on your account. Trust Jesus alone, that is the meaning of the New Testament word - Believe. Rely upon His merits and blood alone. Cast yourself down at Jesus' feet. The way to be saved is to come to Jesus. To come to Jesus means to pray to Him, seek Him, trust in Him. Come to Jesus first. *Matthew 6:33* Renounce every evil way, seek to please Him who redeems you by His blood. Look to Jesus' Blood to take your guilt away. Confide in Jesus, and in Him alone. If you ever get Faith, Christ must give it to you by His words. Look to God's mercy and grace, the Incarnate God, the Finished Work of Christ, His merits and blood. Look to the Incarnate God upon the Cross, the Substitute atoning for human guilt. If you are not related to the Cross in the right way, you will never be related to God in the right way. Never treat the Cross lightly. Stick to the eternal verities of the Holy Scriptures, and don't let this world bother or discourage you. Jesus is the Almighty God. *Revelation 1:8*

The Cross represents a sinless Sacrifice which fully satisfied the justice and wrath of God, and which delivers the rebel sinner. There is eternal virtue in Jesus' blood, virtue enough to give you victory over your sins. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, that means you too. Atheists think they are big shots and smarty pants, but they'll wind up weeping, wailing, and gnashing their teeth in Hell Fire forever and ever. The God who created the heaven and the earth became a man and died for your sins. *John 1:3* God incarnated Himself that He might bear the punishment that our sins deserved, and the wrath we should have borne, He took upon Himself the sins we committed and the guilt we incurred. This is the mystery of mysteries - God was manifest in the flesh as a Jewish man. This mystery confounds the carnal mind that is wise in its own conceits.

Now, soul-saving faith rests upon Christ Himself. Faith, first of all, rests upon Christ as God Incarnate. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem's manger; God was made flesh and dwelt among us. *John 1:14* Faith sees Christ in His sinless life. He is perfect, in perfect obedience. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Christ kept the Law for me. Faith looks to Christ's Righteousness for covering from the wrath to come. Faith looks to Christ as offering up Himself upon the tree as the Substitute for sinners. God made flesh, bleeding, dying in agonies and death throes unutterable, He was obedient even unto death. The wounds and blood wash away my sin. In His Blood there is enough power to avert the anger of God, and enough Righteousness to cover my soul from head to foot, and win for me the smile of Infinite Justice. Faith follows hard after Jesus. Jesus lives, Jesus saves, Jesus is coming again, says Faith.

God is completely satisfied with Christ's Substitutionary Finished work on Calvary's Cross. Faith does not build on human merit. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Faith looks altogether beyond self, and out of self, to Christ Himself. Christ Jesus alone is the object of true Faith's confidence. Believe that Christ's perfect Righteousness is enough for you. The nature of Faith is "with the heart, from the heart." Saving Faith must be sincere. Faith first goes directly to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself for mercy, forgiveness, and redemption. Faith deals immediately with the Lord God, just as a frightened, helpless child runs directly to its mother when he is in danger.

JESUS is THE GOD who saves helpless sinners. He is worthy of all our praises. Broken lives and wounded souls are made anew at the Cross. Jesus' presence takes away all our fears. Your immediate need is for God's presence and blessing through Christ Jesus; you need God to visit your soul in Mercy. As long as you think you can partly save yourself, you're Lost. As long as you think Salvation depends upon anything you can do, you're still dead in your sins. Come unto JESUS, and take His rest and security. There is Salvation in no other name but JESUS. Give up your tiring struggle to save yourself, quit all your efforts to fix yourself up and making yourself presentable to God. Stop dabbling with religion, humble yourself, and Come on to JESUS, and He will freely give you HIS REST. In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling! You have no claim on God, Mercy only comes through what Jesus has done.

God took upon Himself human flesh as a helpless Jewish baby in Bethlehem's manger. Every sin was laid on Jesus, the wrath of God was satisfied at the Cross. God is just and in His justice He cannot ignore our sins. Your sins have to be punished, someone has to pay for them. In Christ alone my hope is found. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can take away your guilt and fear of death. You've had many other notions, but now come along to the Cross, and take Jesus to be your light and life. You've had many other confidences, forsake them all and believe on Jesus, for He is worthy of your utmost confidence. Faith is the relinquishment of all trust in self, once for all, and the trusting in Jesus' blood and merits forever. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, mind, and checkbook.

The Holy Father is the Root, the Lord Jesus is the Plant, and the Holy Ghost is the Fruit and Fragrance. Believe in Jesus once for all. Stop hesitating and procrastinating. Right here and now believe on the Crucified Creator. Get rid of your self-righteousness, just lay your guilty soul down at Jesus' pierced feet: RECEIVE HIM, reject your self-help. Human nature trusts in its own goodness, honesty, good deeds, giving, religiousness, charity, prayers. But you must trust to JESUS, God Incarnate, supremely and completely. Reject all other confidences, and with all your heart lean on Jesus with all your weight, leave all your sin burden with Him. Repose all your concerns for time and Eternity in Jesus' wounded hands.

*GLAD TIDINGS* 1

It is Righteousness and Forgiveness of Sins which the guilty man pants and yearns after. First, the Holy Ghost begins to quicken his mind to his dangerous and sinful state, he feels that he is not right with God, and this discovery causes him great distress. The Holy Spirit shows him that he is all wrong with God, for he has broken the Law which he ought to have kept. The Holy Spirit then causes him to long to get right with God, his conscience is aroused, he cannot rest till this is done. He needs the free pardon of offenses, and receive a Righteousness which makes him acceptable to God. Stop seeking righteousness by your own works. Jesus loved me, and gave Himself for me. *Galatians 2:20* "For me" - those two words are sweet to the needy soul. Jesus is only Giver of grace, He is full of Mercy.

A lustful look is adultery, a covetous desire is idolatry, wrongful anger is murder. The fountain of his being within must be cleansed. Impure looks, desires and passions are all sins in God's sight. Human nature wants health and wealth, not imputed righteousness and private godliness, and public purity. Human nature says, I don't like the God who made me, I want my own god who I can control and manipulate. There is an Almighty God to whom he is accountable; he begins to sense his sinfulness, danger, and inability. He yearns for Pardon, Justification, Full Acceptance, Adoption, Glory. If I take your property, or your spouse, or your life, you know that is wrong. Self-made religion will only damn his soul.

The guilty man then cries out to God for mercy through Jesus' Precious Blood. How can an ungodly man be just with God? A sinner can only be put right with God by childlike faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The guilty man leaps at these glad tidings, lays hold upon Christ, and Jesus meets his case perfectly.

Now the saved man desires to be right in thought, word, conduct, and motive. He pines to be righteous in his whole life, so that he may please the forgiving Savior. Lord Jesus, please end the reign of sin in my life. He dreads sinning against his God who loved Him so. He follows after integrity, kindness, mercifulness, humility, charity and purity. He ardently longs to be correct in his desires and conduct before God, to do right in God's sight. He now wants to know, obey, and love God. He wants to be righteous before the heart-searching God. Irregular desires and tendencies toward unrighteousness, they are hated by him. Longing after forbidden pleasures, he rejects them with loathing. Sin vexes his righteous soul. He now hungers for godly company and fellowship.

Publish glad tidings of good things to sinners - Reconciliation, Free Forgiveness, Eternal Redemption, Everlasting Life, Grace and Mercy, Acceptance with God, Precious Blood, Full Atonement, Christ's Righteousness freely imputed without works. Tell out the story of Substitution - How a just and holy God cannot pass by sin without a penalty - how that the just God, in the person of Jesus, came here to earth and in His perfect manhood, He took the sins of the whole world upon Himself, and bore them in His own body on the tree, and then He bore the penalty and curse that was due to God's violated law, so that He could freely put away sin, so that God might be just, and yet the Justifier of whosoever believeth in Jesus alone. The offending sinner can only meet the offended God through Jesus' atoning blood. The penalty due to sin is eternal death. Jesus Christ my Substitute poured out His soul unto death and bore the deadly price that is due to my sins. If sin is to be put away, it must be by the Sacrifice of a sinless life. Jesus bore the death penalty which guilty men incurred.

There is only one just and righteous way to forgive sins, and that is by Jesus bearing the death penalty in the sinner's place. And now whosoever believeth in Jesus is justified from all things, from which the Law could not deliver him. Every one of your transgressions must receive its penalty. The innocent Substitute had to die because sin was laid upon Him. Jesus has fully paid the penalty due to human sin. Jesus saved me from guilt, penalty, the power of sin, and the wrath to come. Jesus' atoning death paid the sin debt of the whole world.

This is the miracle of the Incarnation. The Son of man is come to save that which was lost. He created all the worlds. *Hebrews 1:3* He dwelt in the bosom of the Father, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In order to redeem sinful men, the Son of the Highest became the Son of man. Jesus was born of a Jewish virgin, and took upon Himself all the infirmities of our human nature. He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. The Word condescended to be made flesh.

Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. Being found in fashion as a man, Jesus became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. We have all disobeyed the law, and denied God's just claims. Our violation of God's law has brought us under its deadly penalty which is called "the curse." No man has always kept the Law. If you read the Ten Commandments very carefully, you have to say, "I have broken this." Remember that the truth of the Law is spiritual, that means that the Law deals with our desires, thoughts, imaginations, motives, our inward rebellious sinful nature. We are guilty in every way, and guilty every day. By nature, we are all under the curse of the Law's guilt. You may think you have been moral, and outwardly commendable in the sight of man, but the thoughts and intents are what the Lord looks at. You have not loved the Lord God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind, and have not loved your neighbor as yourself.

You have come short of the demands of God's righteous Law, which is Perfection. Only Jesus did that. You are under the curse, that is, the condemnation of the Law. Whosoever believes in Jesus is not condemned. I am in Christ; therefore, I am just in God's sight, because of Jesus' Righteousness. I am now justified eternally by faith in His blood alone. Joy in God through Jesus' Atonement, and rest in His peace. The fact is very clear - Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the Law, being made a Curse for me. Jesus bore my sins, and all the Curse which came with them. This world hated and loathed Jesus Christ without a cause. Away with Him, crucify Him! they cried with a loud voice. Jesus cried out on the Cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" God the Father forsook the man Christ Jesus because He was bearing my sins and their punishment. God the Father made Jesus to be Sin for me. The penal consequences of my sins were brought upon the great Substitute of Calvary, and He vindicated the Law of God with His own life for me. These are the glad tidings of good things which Jesus did for sinners.

The Incarnate God 2

This is way to come to God - Ceasing from your own works to save yourself, and resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. In due time, God became a human being; He was a perfect sinless man who bore my sins and died in my place. Jesus was indeed Himself God. The great central truth of the Scriptures - God in human flesh was made the Substitute for sinners. God in human form was made a sinless blood Sacrifice for human guilt. Behold the Lamb of God - means believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in Him as your Savior, accept God's revelation concerning Him, rely upon Jesus' blood alone to save you from sins.

This is the way of salvation - the Incarnated God was made to be Sin for me, that I might be made the Righteousness of God in Him. Receive the meat and drink indeed of the incarnation and the atoning Sacrifice of the Son of God. Emmanuel, God with us, was born at Bethlehem, and He died on Calvary - Incarnation and Substitution, Deity and Atoning Sacrifice. You must believe that God laid upon Jesus the sins of the whole world, including yours. Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate God, was crucified on Calvary for me.

If you are a believer in Jesus, God is yours, Christ is yours - His death, blood, righteousness, intercession, incarnation, and Second Advent are all yours. Ask boldly, receive gratefully, wait patiently, hope trustfully, walk rejoicingly. Substitution is the key-word to all true theology. The divine and all-sufficient Substitute for sinners. God Incarnate, Christ yielding up His life voluntarily, dying in the place of guilty sinners. The Incarnate God is the soul's bread of life and the bleeding Savior in His substitutionary Sacrifice become the heart's new wine. Draw near to the Crucified One; contemplate Christ Jesus; meditate on the Mediator. Let your faith look only to Him. Let your love embrace Him. Cast away all other confidences. Trust in nothing but Jesus' atoning blood. Let all your confidence be in His person, work, life, death, blood, resurrection, ascension, intercession, Second Coming.

Repentance is a complete change of mind from the Holy Spirit with regard to your sins. Atonement by Precious Blood. Simply this - sin is an evil and bitter thing, and God must punish it, so God's own dear Son became a sinless Jewish man, and suffered for our sins, so that our sins could be freely pardoned because Christ suffered the full punishment due to them. Trust your soul with the Son of God. Your sins took a dying and resurrected God to put them away. God came to earth in human form, so He could be capable of suffering and death. God Incarnate died that sinners might live forever. God must punish sin, your sins have incurred penalty, and God exacted that full penalty on the Substitute, the sin debt was paid by the Surety. Believe in Jesus as your Substitute. We depend upon Him, we rest secure. Christ's Righteousness and Riches were transferred to my bankruptcy.

God has visited this world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The Son of the Highest has been here. Man could never come to God, until God came down to him. Believe on Jesus, the Incarnate God, and your sins, doubts and fears will vanish instantly. Jesus came to save the guilty, fallen, unworthy, the lost. The Gospel has nothing to do with those who are good and righteous in themselves. God became a man out of love to ungodly men. But men loved Him not, they hunted and hounded Jesus to death. Men spend their lives on vanity, and turn their backs on God Incarnate. God became a poor man, so that He could suffer the penalty that is due to human sin, and now whosoever trusts in Jesus Christ, the Substitute for sinners, shall be saved from the love of sin. God who made the heavens, came down to earth and died on Calvary.

God descended from the highest throne of glory and became a Jewish peasant born of a virgin named Mary. *II Corinthians 8:9* He suffered in human flesh, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Believe in His blood that has virtue for putting away of sin and making Atonement to Almighty God, so that sinners may be accepted in the beloved. Implicity trust the merits of His bleeding agonies. Fully rely upon Jesus for all your Salvation. Without any other confidence, cast yourself fully upon the great atoning Sacrifice of Calvary. Simple faith will give you Christ instantly. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was made flesh, died for sinners, the Just for the unjust, whosoever believeth in His blood shall be saved from the wrath to come. But the king spared Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake. *Ephesians 4:32*

Look away from all other confidences, and rely upon the sufferings and death of the Incarnate God. Trust the merits of Jesus' blood that was poured forth on Calvary for sinners. The Word became incarnated and stooped from the throne of Heaven to the manger of Bethlehem. Trust, trust, trust Christ and live, depend simply upon His blood and merits, rely only upon His Righteousness, and be found just in the sight of God. Propitiation through faith in His Blood. Faith is trusting implicitly in Christ, and not in yourself at all. When you trust the Blood, all your sins (past, present, future) are forgiven in a moment. Humbly rely upon the Savior's finished work. Cast yourself on His promises; rely upon His merits. Come, trust, believe in Jesus, rely upon Him, throw yourself upon God's Son, lean on Him, hang helplessly on Him, depend on Him. I am justified freely, but it cost the Savior dearly.

The Glorious Gospel 4

Christ Jesus must save us from sin, for we cannot save ourselves. How can a guilty sinner be put right with a holy God? What is a sinner's only hope in life and death before the thrice-holy God who is both our Lawgiver and Judge? These are the vital questions of life and death. All men by nature are slaves to their own vile passions and unclean desires. We are all in a sinful mess without Jesus Christ. The world incessently tries to psychologize away your sinful condition. Sin will enslave and alienate you. Human nature stubbornly tries to fix itself, but it can't, because human nature is dead in sins. There is a place called Hell, and if you have done wrong things (sins) like lying and stealing, and you know what you have done is wrong, you will go to Hell for those things. You need someone to save you from the curse and guilt of your sins.

You need a Savior, you cannot save yourself, you are in the wrong with God, you have offended God. You have worshipped gods of your own making, and loved sins that have left you feeling empty, helpless, sad, alone, and guilty. Sin always complicates life. Only the Bible tells you of your true sinful condition, and only the Holy Ghost can convince you of your dangerous sinful condition. Men are always on the defense when they are called a sinner; they try to pass the buck to someone else. The Holy Ghost must make your sin clear to you. Jesus stepped out of Eternity down into time, so He could do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Men have light thoughts of God, so they don't fear Him. Superstitious men long for a supernatural realm, a love that is stronger than death, a good that triumphs over evil, and a closer relationship with nature. But these same men and women abhor the reality and truths of the Holy Scriptures.

God is your Maker and Judge before whom you will stand and give account of yourself. Committing sins make you feel guilty and depressed, but you still love it. The standard of God is absolute Perfection, and you are busted. Your sins demand the justice of God, you need a Substitute to take your place. You have sinned against Heaven, but God is rich in mercy to sinners for Jesus' sake. The ground of salvation is in the finished work of Jesus and the free mercy of God. Help me, Lord Jesus, save me by your Grace, be merciful to me a sinner. The just punishment that was due to my sins was inflicted upon the Lamb of God for my sake. Christ Jesus bore every one of your sins which you commit every day, and He died in your place with those sins on Him, He paid the penalty for every one of your sins.

Ye must be born again spiritually, for you were born wrong the first time. *John 3:7* Regeneration is an instantaneous, inward, radical change by the Spirit and Grace of God. The Holy Ghost must change us from the inside out. Crying, feeding, crawling, resting are all symptoms of the New Birth. After we receive Jesus Christ and are born again, we begin to cry Abba, Father in supplication and prayer; we desire the sincere milk of the word of God and begin to grow; we crawl to God for help and comfort; we love resting in Jesus' arms of love and mercy. True regeneration by the Holy Ghost makes us a new creature in Christ and brings with it spiritual activity and appetite. The world says no to nothing today; nothing is a sin anymore. But once we are born again, we start saying no to our old dirty and selfish ways (ungodliness and worldly lusts), and start saying yes to the ways and things of Christ. Leave your old life and walk in newness of life for Jesus' sake, for the glory of God. Daily choose to follow truth and obey the Spirit's leading; put off the old man, and put on the new man. Don't let your mind be controlled by this world's culture or by some worldly person.

We are not what God intended us to be, we are flawed and fallen in sin. All of our sins were involved in the death of Jesus Christ. You and I are what is wrong with the world today. Sinners can only be saved by God's mercy, not by human merit. Jesus saves you, you don't save yourself. You must come to the end of trying to save yourself. Education, examples, and experiences cannot help you. Meticulous religiousness is all vain and useless. You must seek God's goodness and lovingkindness through simple faith in the Atoning Blood of Jesus Christ. You cannot make yourself commendable to God, for your sin has already condemned you. Human nature thinks God owes it Heaven. Now understand - A good God will not reward nice people for doing their best. God will only have mercy on you for Jesus' sake. Men that are at ease in their sins and self-righteousness won't call upon the Savior God. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved from the love of sin and divine justice.

The Incarnate God 1

God in human flesh made an Atonement for human sin. The Eternal Son of God became a Jewish man. Sinful men killed the Savior, the very One who came to do them good. Jesus laid down His life for His enemies, He gave Himself for our sins. He died on Calvary's Cross to make a Propitiation for your sins. The Incarnate God bled for my sins. Jesus stood in your place, that you might stand in His place. He took all our sins upon Himself, and being found with our sins upon Him, the wrath of God feel upon Him, and He was made to bear the full penalty that was due to our sins, and He did bear it. There is no better news for a poor sinner than a merciful, bleeding Savior God.

Atonement by Precious Blood. Show your soul's wounds and disease to the Great Physician, beg for His divine care and surgery. Faith is the dressing that binds the divine ointment and remedy (His Precious Blood) to our soul's wounds, bruises and putrefying sores. Rely upon Jesus alone for all your Salvation. Jesus is all my Salvation and Desire. Trust yourself with Him who died for you. Jesus stood in the sinner's place, He bore the sinner's guilt, and put sin away by His own bloody death. All my sins were put to Christ's account, and all Christ's Righteousness was put to my account. God left His throne to come and bleed on Earth to offer up an Atonement for His fallen creation.

Trust the Great Truth of substitutional suffering. Christ Jesus suffered in your place, so you wouldn't have to suffer for your sins in the lake of fire. The Substitutionary Sacrifice of the Lamb of God on Calvary. Reconciliation by His Blood. The Atonement, Substitution, Vicarious Expiatory Sufferings of Christ in the sinner's place. Expiate means to make amends or reparation for a sinner's crimes against God. Expiate means to atone for, to make good for a debt, to propitiate, to pay one's dues, to make reparation, to compensate for an injury or insult, to make recompense, to expunge. Justification by Faith in His blood, a sinner is saved not by works of righteousness which he has done, but according to the free grace of God, through the mercies of Jesus Christ. The great central truth of Substitution.

Christ Himself, God manifest in the flesh, bore our sins in His own body on the tree. This scriptural fact is the sum and substance of the whole Gospel. God in His infinite justice determined that sin must be punished. Divine Wisdom devised the plan of Substitution, Jesus Christ is God, He became a Jewish man, that He might be able to be the Substitute for sinners. Give up all self-confidence and all attempts to save yourself by our own merit. A simple reliance upon Jesus' atoning blood must save you. Expiation by the Precious Blood is the sinner's ground of hope. Jesus' Incarnation, sinless life here below, shameful sufferings, and vicarious death. Atonement and Reconciliation by the Blood.

Incarnation-Substitution-Justification. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, died as a Substitute for sinners, and was forsaken by His Holy Father. Entirely and unfeignedly believe on Jesus Christ. The plan of Salvation by the Substitution of God's Son for guilty sinners is the only way. Close with Christ now through childlike faith in His Precious Blood. Christ's great substitutionary sacrifice, full Atonement made, utmost Ransom paid. Actual, real, effectual Atonement for sin. Whosoever will come and trust in the Substitute for sinners shall be eternally saved. The Offended One died for the offender; the Judge died for the criminal; the Creator died for the creature.

The simple act of relying upon Jesus as your Substitute and Savior puts away your guilty and sins forever. Relying on the aid, assistance, strength, wisdom, guidance, and witness of the Holy Spirit Himself. Really trusting in Jesus does the heart good, living faith in the Crucified and Risen Savior. Trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus died for me, all my sins are gone forever, because He was punished in my place. My demerits were imputed to Jesus, He died to put them away, and now His merit is reckoned as my merit. The wonderful transfer has been made.

Rely upon the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, suffered, bled, died, buried, rose again, ascended up to Heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God. He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is not condemned. To believe is, to trust, to rely upon, to depend wholly upon Christ's atoning blood to wash away your sins. Trust, repent, depend, rely upon Jesus. Rely upon Him, depend wholly upon Him. It is safest to simply rely upon the blood and merits of Jesus Christ alone. Trust Jesus with your soul, trust Him with everything else too. Rely upon Him in providence as well as in Grace.

The first and best thing for your soul to do is to get near to Christ, trust His Blood, receive His Righteousness, feed upon His truth. You need to come to terms with your Creator. Make sure work for Eternity, trifle not with your soul. Play not the fool with your own immortal soul. Your heart is full of wickedness, your soul is steeped in sin. You have no merits to boast of. Shut your mouth, utter not a boastful word, stand guiltily silent before the Lord. Believe on God's Son, make Him the Trustee of your soul, He is a Trustee who can be trusted. Deposit into His hands your soul, take your place as a guilty sinner. Never doubt the power of Christ to forgive all your sins. Will you have your sins, or the Savior? Which will it be?

Better Things

Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Open rebuke is better than secret love. Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar. Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and My revenue than choice silver. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.